As many of you know BOBSod has been the turf of choice for the Diamondbacks since its conception in 1998, but this year we made a change. The Diamondbacks grounds crew experimented with a few different varieties over the last year and they decided to make the change to the environmentally friendly Platinum TE seashore paspalum. While the BOBSod is still performing at an extremely high level, a shift was made to go with a grass that could be installed without overseed in early March. For those not familiar with paspalum one of its best attributes is its shorter dormancy period. Paspalum can handle temperatures that drop into the 40’s at night before losing color while bermudagrasses will start to lose color in the 50’s. This often leads to a 3+ weeks longer season in the fall and can often green up a few weeks earlier in the spring.

Having the roof over Chase Field provides a lot shade during the spring transition and can really extend the life of the ryegrass. As you probably have learned from your bermudagrass lawns over the years shade will take out your grass over time. Since the ryegrass can live longer inside the stadium, it makes for a longer transition. With this in mind the groundskeeper decided to make the choice to use a non overseeded grass and avoid any transition.